Press Roundup: The Starlets
Podcasts & Vlogs
Vlog Feature on The Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing
“If you’ve ever found yourself daydreaming about collaborating with another writer, today’s video from co-authors Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne is for you. They get into the different ways you can go about co-authoring, the parts of the publishing journey that are more fun with a writing partner than when working alone, the qualities to look for in a collaborator…and more! 💻✍🏼💻”
Check it out!
The BookHouse Podcast
Episode Notes: Our latest episode of The Book House Podcast features Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne, co-authors of The Antiquity Affair and The Starlets, which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and comes out November 12.
From coming up with an idea to dividing the workload, Kelly and Thorne shared a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to work together to bring a novel to life. Their first collaboration, The Antiquity Affair, proved an exciting female-heroine take on Indiana Jones while their latest, The Starlets, is a page-turner that features the grit and glamour of Old Hollywood.
The prolific pair has two more novels in the works. How do they juggle these in addition to their solo projects? Tune in to find out
The Book House Podcast Episode 7: Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne
10 Minute BookTalk
Looking for a captivating read this fall? We have the book for you! THE STARLETS is a glittering, smart and spry new caper by Jennifer Thorne and Lee Kelly. Don’t miss our super fun interview with them this week! Set in 1958, the story features 2 feuding starlets who stumble upon dastardly doings on their film set in Italy and must go on the run through Europe with key evidence. Rachel, Katherine and Marie all loved this one!
Watch The 10 Minute Book Talk with Jennifer Thorne and Lee Kelly
The Starlets Featured on BookRiot
Travel the Historical World with These November Historical Fiction New Releases
“The only thing better than traveling the world in fiction is traveling the world in real life—and even then, sometimes reading is better. After all, you don’t have to pack a suitcase or keep track of your passport if you’re traveling through the pages of a book. This form of travel is a favorite here at Book Riot.” Read more!
Guest Articles by Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne
“Two Heads (and Continents) Are Better Than One: A Conversation on Collaboration”
– Featured in Writer’s Digest (Nov 13, 2024)
Writer's Digest article on the Joys of Collaboration
Collaborative authors Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne discuss the collaborative writing process, their collaborative writing process.
“Congruity across scenes became so much more important, so we tossed aside the idea of separate lanes and embraces the full spirit of collaboration. The book’s better for it.” – Jennifer Thorne
“Go Team or No Team: Thoughts and Advice on Writing Collaborations”
– Featured in Women Writers, Women's Books (Nov 12, 2024)
“One of the biggest drawbacks of the writing life for most authors is that it’s by and large a lonely profession. Unless you count conversations with fictional people, most of an author’s career is spent alone in front of a computer . . . which is perhaps why many authors become intrigued when we mention that we’ve co-written several books together. A litany of questions inevitably follows, these other authors clearly testing the waters: How did you know that you would work well together? How do you divide the writing? How do you determine whose idea “wins out” if you don’t agree?”
“Six Cat-And-Mouse Movie Capers for When You Feel Like Going on the Run”
– Featured in CrimeReads (Nov 19, 2024)
Wild rides, madcap adventures, and plucky protagonists in way over their heads. Here are six cat-and-mouse movies that influenced The Starlets, all of which will scratch that madcap caper itch.
“Creating a Sense of Place When Co-Writing”
– Featured in SheReads (Dec 2024)
Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne discuss creating a sense of place in their latest collaboration, The Starlets!
“As history naturally comes to bear upon all our story settings, we frequently find ourselves comparing and contrasting contemporary maps and the renderings of yore–antique photographs, sketches, and paintings, all of which create translucent layer upon layer over the current landscape.”
Read a Free Excerpt of The Starlets!
From NerdDaily
The Starlets
One perfect island. Two rivals. A star-studded cast.
But underneath the glitter, disaster is brewing.
Summer, 1958. Vivienne Rhodes thinks she’s finally landed her break playing Helen of Troy in Apex Pictures’ big-budget epic, A Thousand Ships, an anticipated blockbuster meant to resurrect the failing studio. Naturally, she’s devastated when she arrives on the remote Italian island of Tavalli and finds herself cast as the secondary character, Cassandra—while her nemesis, the fiancé-stealing Lottie Lawrence, America’s supposed “sweetheart,” is playing the lead role instead.
The tension on set, though, turns deadly when the ladies discover that members of the crew are using the production as a front for something decidedly illegal—and that they are willing to kill to keep their dealings under wraps. When the two women find themselves on the run and holding key evidence, Vivienne and Lottie frantically agree to work together to deliver the proof to Interpol, hoping to protect both their lives and their careers.
Staying one step ahead of corrupt cops and looming mobsters, the archrivals flee across the seas. Their journey leads them into Monaco’s casinos, Grace Kelly’s palace, on a road trip through the Alps—even onto another film set, before a final showdown back on Tavalli, where the lives of the entire cast and crew hang in the balance. Vivienne and Lottie finally have the chance to be real heroines—to save the day, the film, maybe even each other—but only if they can first figure out how to share the spotlight.
“A spry and suspenseful crime novel set just after Hollywood’s golden age” (starred Publishers Weekly review)
“A sheer delight! This fast-paced caper is fresh, fun, and exactly the escape readers need right now.” —Marie Bostwick, New York Times bestselling author of Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly
Perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Clive Cussler
